Lavadytis

Lavadytis Temporal range: Burdigalian–Langhian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Anseriformes
Family:	Anatidae
Genus:	†Lavadytis
Species:	†L. pyrenae
Binomial name
†Lavadytis pyrenae Stidham and Hilton, 2015

Lavadytis is an extinct genus of anatid birds that lived in what is now Nevada during the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum of the Miocene epoch. It contains the single species Lavadytis pyrenae.

Palaeobiology

Palaeoecology

Lavadytis pyrenae was osteologically adapted for diving, and it likely behaved in a similar manner and occupied a similar ecological niche to modern diving ducks.^[1]

References

1. Stidham, Thomas A.; Hilton, Richard P. (7 October 2015). Benson, Roger (ed.). "New data on stiff‐tailed duck evolution and dispersal from a new species of diving duck (Anseriformes: Anatidae: cf. Oxyurinae) from the Miocene High Rock Caldera in north‐west Nevada, USA". Papers in Palaeontology. 2 (1): 41–58. doi:10.1002/spp2.1029. ISSN 2056-2799. Retrieved 25 January 2026 – via Wiley Online Library.